Hi, i got Covid 3 weeks ago and i was so tired for 2 weeks, no riding.
After ive gone back of course i feel my performance is not what it used to be, and is also really hot here (35ºC or more).
Ive been riding a few endurance rides as to start base training again as last year (my 1st riding) i really didnt do a complete base training phase.
This 1st rides have been trying that my HR is around 70% of my max rate (180 bpm = around 125-130 bpm), and not having into account the power, which was mostly in Z1/Z2 (Out of a 7 zones model).
Yesterday i focused on power instead of HR, and was trying to ride Z2 all the time with the occasional Z3 for a few moments and even sometimes Z4 for 1 minute or so, but overall mainly Z2 Ride (percentages were Z1=25%, Z2=53%,Z3=14%).
It was a 30-35ºC Ride.
Found out that i guess due to my drop on fitness my HR was around 150 all the time and sometimes 160 (right below my HR threshold of 164).
Btw i have put my estimated FTP a bit down as suggested by intervals due to no riding in 3 weeks so as to avoid having zones wrong.
On another note, the ride felt more like a tempo ride than a endurance ride tbh as i was pushing a bit more power than previous days, not really pushing but definitely a bit more than previous days, maybe because of the higher HR, i dont know!
So, the big question is, should i focus on HR or Power on my Base-endurance Z2 rides?
Had Covid at the beginning of the season, light form kinda but still one week in bed and second week out of bed but without powerr to do anything. After covid i came back to training and my hr was like 20-30 points above normal. It took 3-4 weeks of easy riding (with some harder efforts when someone passes me and i couldn’ stop my ego from pursuing - and feeling really awfull tired after /like after 5 vo2max intervals/) to get my heart to the numbers from before covid. I rode by hr (without looking even at power, it was too depresing to look at my endurance lower by 30-40 watts), riding by power would make my endurance ride a tempo or even sweet spot ride after a couple of minutes. On a more positive note, after a month my hr was steady and low as before covid. And now after a second month of degular training (3 weeks of sweet spot) my form and ftp is all time best, so the drop is temporary To sum it all i would definitly focus on your HR looking at power can be only depressing at the current moment
You should be okay, it you keep everything below Z2 heart rate and if that is too hard, keep it below the point where you can no longer can talk freely. Some like to refer to is a “reciting the the alphabet”.
For the Pros, the point where they can resume training, and be allowed in a race, is a negative test. One team coach has said that the latest variants are super contagious, but have very mild symptoms.
HR. Your actual Z2 power now wouldn’t be the Z2 you were targeting as you’re working off of a percentage from an FTP that was pre-covid. Stick to HR, IMO, that is showing how your body is responding. Oh and good ol’ RPE.
Got Covid start of December, and had to take nearly a month off as was so fatigued all the time. Coming back now and my HR is crazy. Whereas before 300w for a couple of hours was fine but when I first came back 200w for 30mins was so darn hard. Got to the point now where I’m at about 250w for 2hrs but seem to need to drink and eat a lot more.
Quick question, when did you start vo2 intervals again, what was the progression and what does a success look like?
I was getting pretty down about it all as was following a self made plan for an event in April and was progressing really nicely but fingers crossed I can train normally soon and start to rediscover it
I think any post-covid questions can be answered with -
a) it depends, and
b) it depends on you.
Examples:
a) severity of covid, duration of, what time of year
b) what you are used to, what you want to do, how it affected you
I don’t think there are any ‘correct’ answers, nor can anyone answer for you: it depends. Personally, I dropped all my cycling efforts to doing a lot more walking (light running), and keeping my HR as low as possible - and that has been very hard but - eight moths after covid - I believe I actually feel better. At the beginning I tried too hard, and felt worse as a result.
In my experience, you should forget about going over z2, even being in the high z2 range, after I tested negative I spent several days trekking, then I started to ride for an hour in z1 and gradually increased the intensity, until the heartrate was not correct I didn’t start with more intensity. In these cases you should not be in a hurry to train hard again.
To sum it all i would definitly focus on your HR looking at power can be only depressing at the current moment